Analysis of the status quo, progress and pattern of oil and gas exploration in China in 2021

I. Overview of oil and gas exploration

1. Classification situation

Oil and gas mainly refers to oil, natural gas, coal bed gas, shale gas, oil and gas is divided into conventional and unconventional two types, unconventional oil and gas exploitation is difficult. Among them, unconventional oil and gas refers to a class of oil and gas systems whose reservoirs, fluid characteristics and accumulation mechanism are different from those of conventional oil and gas systems, which are difficult to be discovered or exploited effectively by conventional exploration and development methods. From the perspective of exploration and development difficulty, unconventional oil and gas is more difficult than conventional oil and gas, and offshore oil and gas is more difficult than land oil and gas.

2. Exploration process

Exploration is the front link of petroleum industry, including resource search, development plan design and implementation, which is of great significance to maintain the stability of proved reserves of resources and ensure the sustainable development of petroleum industry. The exploration and development technology of oil and gas resources is based on geophysical exploration, that is, using seismic and geological information to analyze the formation structure of exploration areas, search for favorable reservoirs, and guide drilling and oilfield development. It mainly involves geological survey, seismic exploration or non-seismic exploration, drilling, logging, well completion and other services.

2. Background of oil and gas exploration and development

1. Social background

The overall effect of China's oil and gas exploration is significant, and the identified reserves of oil and natural gas as a whole show a continuous growth trend, data show that in 2020 China's identified reserves of natural gas will be 6,266,578 billion cubic meters, and the identified reserves of oil will reach 3,619 billion tons. It can be seen that China's natural gas and natural gas resources exploration potential is huge.

2. Policy background

As crude oil imports are mainly concentrated in politically unstable regions such as the Middle East, since the fall in oil prices in 2016, the dependence on imported crude oil from the Middle East has not decreased, but increased. The instability in the Middle East has further enhanced the necessity for China to increase oil exploration and development to ensure energy security. In this regard, the central government has made important instructions on domestic oil and gas exploration and development, requiring enterprises to implement the strategy of ensuring national energy security. On the whole, with the rapid growth of China's national economy and the increasing demand for energy, the relevant laws and regulations system and industry supervision system of the oil and gas exploration, development and production industry are constantly improving and developing.

Third, oil and gas exploration industry chain analysis

1. Oil and gas industry chain as a whole

The oil and gas industry chain is usually divided into upper, middle and downstream three links: the upstream link is mainly to find underground oil and gas resources and exploit them, generally divided into oil and gas exploration and development; The middle reaches are mainly used for pre-treatment (including separation of impurities such as oil, gas and water), storage and transportation of extracted oil and gas; The downstream link is mainly for refining and deep processing of oil and the sale of finished products.

2. Investment structure

The domestic oil and gas exploration and development has driven the development of oilfield engineering service market. In general, drilling engineering technical services account for more than 50% of exploration and development investment. In addition, engineering construction and production services account for about 22% and 13% of exploration, respectively, and are also important components of exploration investment.

3, downstream demand

With the continuous development of the per capita consumption level and the overall economy, as the basic energy and the demand for refined oil and natural gas continue to grow, according to the data, the apparent consumption of refined oil and natural gas in China continues to grow, reaching 341.48 million tons and 372.6 billion cubic meters by 2021, respectively. China is a large consumer of refined oil and natural gas, with a large export demand for refined oil and a large import demand for natural gas, so large-scale oil and gas exploration investment is essential.

4. Oil and gas exploration status

1. Capital investment

In terms of capital investment in China's oil and gas exploration, China's oil and gas exploration capital experienced a decline period from 2012 to 2016, and the overall investment continued to grow, reaching 82.129 billion yuan in 2019, a new high in the past decade. In 2020, under the impact of the epidemic, the capital investment decreased slightly, only 710.24%. With the introduction of domestic power rationing policy, energy problems have gradually emerged, and China has long been a major exporter of refined oil products, it is expected that there is still room for improvement in oil and gas exploration funds.